Griveling
Griveling Medium Elemental (Earth, Extraplanar) Hit Dice: 5d8+15 (37 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), burrow 30 ft. Armor Class: 18 (+8 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 18 Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+7 Attack: Slam +7 melee (1d8+4) Full Attack: 2 slams +7 melee (1d8+4) Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/magic, darkvision 60 ft., earthsight, earth glide, elemental traits, heat tolerance, immunity to cold Saves: Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +4 Abilities: Str 18, Dex 10, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 15 Skills: Diplomacy +14, Knowledge (geography) +10, Sense Motive +12, Spot +9, Survival +1 (+3 to avoid getting lost or to avoid natural hazards) Feats: Iron Will, Negotiator Environment: Any hills or mountains and underground (Elemental Plane of Earth) Organization: Pair or clan (3-24) Challenge Rating: 4 Treasure: Standard (communal, see text) Alignment: Usually neutral good Advancement: 6-15 HD (Medium) Level Adjustment: +5 This creature is humanoid in form, but lacks a distinctive musculature and any obvious sensory organs. Its skin is the color of stone. Grivelings are native to the Elemental Plane of Earth, but most are currently trapped on the Material Plane on the world of Oerth. In that realm, they reside nearly exclusively in the Barrier Peaks and the Valley of the Mage. How they first arrived on Oerth is long-forgotten, and they lack any means of planar travel to return to the plane of their genesis. Grivelings are good-natured, friendly, and curious. They spend much of their time observing other creatures, and have learned to shape their bodies to more closely resemble other creatures while communicating. These assumed likenesses are far from perfect, often resulting in comical appearances. Most grivelings make their lairs within the stone walls of caves and mountains. Since they are unaffected by extreme temperatures, they can survive nearly anywhere, although they prefer to be surrounded by earth or stone. They form small clans of up to a dozen individuals, sharing their accumulated wealth and food stores. Grivelings put the priorities of the clan first and rarely act without consulting other clan members. Grivelings subsist on a mineral diet, and need very little to survive due to their slow metabolisms. The reproduction cycle of grivelings, like their metabolism, is slower than normal. A mated pair of grivelings can produce an offspring every six to twelve years. Parents decide the sex of their children, usually choosing the gender that most benifits the clan. For example, if two male grivelings are killed, the next two offspring might be male, to make up the deficit. Grivelings are 4 to 6 feet tall and weigh 1,000 to 3,500 pounds. Skin coloration resembles the colors of dirt and stone, ranging from dirty brown to the dark black of rich soil. Males and females are indentical in appearance. Most live over 1,500 years. Grivelings speak Common, Dwarven, and Terran in slow, gravely tones. COMBAT Given the choice, grivelings will avoid combat by any means, attempting a peaceful resolution to differences or simply leaving the scene. If forced into battle, grivelings prefer to fight partially embedded in the rock, gaining the benefits of cover. Earthsight (Su): Grivelings can see through earth and stone as if it were air. As a result, barriers constructed of these materials never break line of sight for a griveling. Earth Glide (Ex): A griveling can glide through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other signs of its presence. A move earth spell cast on an area containing a burrowing griveling flings the griveling back 30 feet, stunning the creature for 1 round unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save. Heat Tolerance (Ex): A griveling never needs to make Fortitude saves to avoid nonlethal damage in regions of extreme heat. Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—move earth, stoneskin, transmute mud to rock (DC 17), transmute rock to mud (DC 17). Caster level 8th. The save DCs are Charisma-based. Originally appeared in WG12 - Vale of the Mage (1990). Category:Elemental creatures